"Unfortunately the medalists didn’t crack": Lidl-Trek's best rider at European Championships beats Ayuso and Skjelmose

Toms Skujins may not be on par with the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel, but the Latvian's record at the biggest Championships is not any less impressive. It all started with Skujins finishing 5th at the Paris Olympic Games. Since then, the Lidl-Trek rider finished 4th and 5th at the two most recent World Championships and now also 5th at the European Championships in Ardeche. Better than Lidl-Trek (future) stars Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose.

"Once again I managed to squeeze out the maximum – I'm happy about that. The team did a superb job, which is always a joy. I'm satisfied – there’s no strength left in the legs, so everything's as it should be," Skujins said in an interview for the Latvian Cycling Federation.

"The course, of course, was tough – as always in competitions at this level. Unfortunately, on the last long climb the group split quite a bit – the six strongest riders broke away, and at that moment I just couldn’t keep up with them," Skujins was honest about the level of his rivals.

"Then the main goal was to stay with the next group and try to fight for the highest possible placing, because I knew there were still 70–80 kilometers left and the guys ahead might crack. One of them did – in the very last lap, with about 15 kilometers to go, I managed to catch up to one of them. The medalists didn’t crack, unfortunately – but that’s how it goes this year."

Quite strong chasing group formed behind the escaped men. From there, Skujins attacked alongside his Lidl-Trek teammate Mattias Skjelmose on the last lap to battle it out for remaining places of honor.

"It’s always nice when, if not a teammate, then at least someone familiar is with you – someone you can talk to and agree that you'll both ride all the way to the line. Even though at that point we were in sixth and seventh place – we knew that if the front three started looking at each other, we might even get into the fight for medals. But unfortunately, only one of them cracked, and I managed to catch and pass him."

The national team of Latvia was weakened by the absence of it's second climber (all-rounder) Krists Neilands. Thus more pressure was on the shoulders sprinters Emils Liepins and Kristians Belohvosciks. The two did the maximum in their abilities before dropping out of the race around half-way point.

"The start itself was actually very hard – straight into a climb. The guys were fighting for the breakaway, and the battle was really intense – I'm very happy that Kristians managed to make it into the break in the end. On the second lap, he also managed to get me and Emils into a good position. Everything was great, the guys did their jobs – Emils in the first lap, Kristians in the second. Really satisfied – hats off to the guys."

The other two Latvians, like most of the field, did not finish – only 17 riders completed the race. Skujins is again fifth, just like at the World Championships in Rwanda where he was beaten by Skjelmose. His teammate took seventh this time. The Latvian's result only underlines the 34-year-old's unique ability to perform in the most challenging races.

"Both fifth-place finishes are quite similar – at the World Championships it was also all Europeans ahead of me. Same thing, really (laughs), just a few different surnames in third and fourth. Slightly different course, slightly different conditions, but the names in the top ten seem pretty similar."